Notes For Kite Runner

Initial Research
◦ Amir and Hassan were friends, until Amir betrays Hassan. He returns
years later to atone for his sins and rescue Hassan's son.
◦ A kite runner is the assistant of the kite flyer who retrieves the flag
after it has fallen. Book title likely has a symbolic meaning and it can be
assumed that one character is like a kite runner is to a lite flyer to another
character.

Chapter One
◦ Narrator (Amir) feels regret and shame about "sins" he committed back
in Afghanistan.
◦ The narrator lives in San Francisco present day.

Chapter Two
◦ He is characterized to have been a mischievous child while his friend
Hassan was kind. An example of this is Hassan never telling on Amir when he
convinced Hassan to shoot at the dog with his slingshot, which he never wanted to
do.
◦ The narrator is wealthy and lived in a very beautiful house.
◦ Ali or Hassan's father served Amir's dad
◦ Amir likely yearned for a deeper connection with his father as he would
want to join Baba and his friends during adult time, and when denied he would sit
his his knees to his chest outside the door for hours listening to their chatter
and laughter.
◦ Rahim Khan who called Amir in chapter one is his father"a business
partner and best friend.
◦ We can assume his father may have a negative attitude towards Amir as
he is depicted to not be smiling in the photo where he's holding Amir as baby. We
can also infer Rahim plays a pivotal role in Amir's life as he has his hands
wrapped around his finger as a baby.
◦ Amir's mother died giving birth to Amir which may support the idea of a
possible conflict between Baba and Amir.
◦ Hassan lives in a much worse house in Baba's estate.
◦ Hassan's mother left less than week after giving birth with a clan of
traveling
◦ Amir wonders if Hassan was interested in knowing his mother like he
did.
◦ A soldier calls Hassan and talks about how he knew his mother very
well, indicating with hand gestures that they had sex. Amir comforts him, letting
him rest his head on his shoulder as he cried while telling him they mistaken him
for someone else.
◦ Over there, natural choices for spouses are someone's first cousin.
Ali cannot move the muscles in the bottom of his face, so he cannot smile and you
could only see his emotion through his eyes.
◦ Hassan's mother Sanaubar had a bad reputation and is depicted as
unethical. She was also 19 years younger than Ali. Because of these
characteristics it's a surprising that someone like Ali who had memorized the
Koran married somebody like her.
◦ Ali has a thin right leg because of polio which led to Amir imitating
his walk and older kids chasing him in the streets, all while being given nicknames
like boogey man.
◦ Hassan's people (Hazara's) were peresecuted, oppressed, and killed by
Amir's people in the past (Pashtuns) partly due to religious differences. This
bias still existed in their time as people would call Ali names such as flat nosed.
◦ Sanaubar also made fun of Ali and when she gave birth to Hassan and saw
his lip, she laughed and refused to hold him. Ali never retaliated to anybody.
◦ Amir's first words were Baba while Hassan's first words was Amir's
name. This shows us the connection that they had, alongside the idea that those
who fed from the same breast had a special bond or kinship that time couldn't
break.

Chapter Three
◦ At the start of this chapter, Baba is depicted as a strong intimating
man who fought a bear with his hands and designed an orphanage himself and payed
for its construction.
◦ Baba defied other's expectations, running a business and becoming one
of the richest merchants in Kabul despite being told he doesn't have it in him and
he should study law and. He also married someone very educated beautiful and of
royal descent.
◦ Amir bares a hidden fear and little resentment from his father as he's
a man who "sees everything in black and white and decides what's black and white".
◦ Amir felt hatred towards the orphans because his father would try out
late overlooking the construction of the orphanage.
◦ Baba believes the only sin there is is theft and everything else is a
form of theft.
◦ Amir read lots of his mother's novels and bought books once a week with
his allowance. He ended up becoming more like his mother than his father who
played soccer around his age.
◦ As shown in a flashback of a match and a flashback of baba talking to
Rahim, Baba is diss appointed that Amir doesn't stand up for himself and isn't
interested in the things he was interested in, and insists that Amir is missing
something, while Rahim argues that he's self centered and that there's nothing
wrong with Amir. Amir's reaction to Hassan the next day shows how much this
troubled Amir.

Chapter Four
◦ Ali and Baba had a similar relationship to Amir and Hassan growing up,
but Baba never referred to Ali as his friend. Amir admits he never referred to
Hassan as his friend either and even though they've done countless things together,
at the end of the day Amir is a Pashtun and Hassan is a Hazara. However, no amount
of history or ethnicities would take away the fact that they grew up together.
◦ Hassan and Amir remained friends despite the drastic difference in the
two's lifestyles where one was the servant to the other. Amir is also
characterized as slightly arrogant as he would openly tease Hassan for not knowing
the words in the books he would read to him. Amir however would feel sorry and
gift him old clothes and other items to atone for the seemingly harmless pranks.
◦ Hassan's interest in the fake story enabled Amir to write his own
story. When trying to show his dad his story, his father showed no interest in it
while Rahim offered to read it. He left an uplifting message that stayed with
Amir. This made Amir wish Rahim was his father, but he threw up due to the guilt
he felt after thinking about it.
◦ Hassan pointed out a plot hole in Amir's story, teaching him irony.
This caused a part of Amir to feel offended and to think negatively of Hassan.
Before he could answer Hassan's question , something happened that "changed
Afghanistan forever".

Chapter Five
◦ The interruption from the last chapter was the sound of gunshots in the
streets, which was not regular during that time period yet. The narrator goes on
to say that the official end would be in 1978 and 1979. The time of this is 1973.
◦ A neighborhood bully who is half German goes up to the two. He mocks
them and talks about how great hitler was and brags about how he knows Doud Khan,
the kings cousin who started the coup. He mirrors Hitler in the story as he
believes that Afghanistan is for the pure Pashtuns and that they need to get rid of
the Hazaras.
◦ In Amir's inner thoughts, we learn that Amir is ashamed of Hassan, as
he doesn't involve him in his games when he plays with other kids and he only hangs
out with Hassan when no one else is around. He also almost says that Hassan isn't
his friend and that he's his servant when Assef the neighborhood bully asks why
Amir hands out with him and that he's part of the problem.
◦ Hassan jumps to defend Amir from Assef who took out his infamous
stainless steel brass knuckles. Although scared, he puts on a tough act and makes
Assef and his friends retreat.
◦ For Hassan's birthday, Baba usually gets Hassan a gift every year. This
year he got him plastic surgery to fix his lip. Although confused at first, when
he realized what it was for, he expressed his gratitude even after the surgery had
been complete. However based on how the story has been written, we can assume Ali
and Hassan weren't 100% certain this was the best gift. The chapter ends with
saying it's ironic Hassan was smiling because it was the winter Hassan stopped
smiling.

Chapter Six
◦ Amir loves winter because school is dismissed and because of all the
new things like snow, the heat from the stoves, and kites which "thawed the chill"
between Amir and Baba. However it is ironic because we know that this is the
winter that Hassan stopped smiling.
◦ Author compares war and kite flying through preparation and "battle
scars". The author makes is sound positive as they use these scars as a bonding
experience.
◦ Amir's yearning for his father's love continues as he mentions how if
he wanted a better kite, his father would not only buy it for him, but for Hassan
too and how he wished he wouldn't do that and how he wished he could be the
favorite.
◦ Hassan supported Amir as his assistant in kite fighting.
◦ Hassan was the best kite fighter Amir knew, knowing where the kite
would go before it even landed. In a memory of Hassan doing this one time, Amir
teases Hassan again, finding pleasure in teasing him like he's torturing a bug
asking him if he would eat dirt if he asked. Hassan says he would but then asks if
he would ever ask him. Amir feels bad and explains that Hassan is a person who
means everything he says and also believes that everyone else means everything else
they say.
◦ Amir feels the need to win the upcoming kite flying tournament because
his father casually said he think he'll win.

Chapter Seven
◦ Amir sometimes unintentionally looks down on Hassan and his father,
like when he says he should ask his father about his dream since he's so smart, or
when Amir makes fun of Hassan for not knowing what large words mean.
◦ Hassan always know what Amir is feeling and thinking while Amir doesn't
know what Hassan is thinking most of the time. This difference in chemistry could
be a possible reason for the upcoming conflict.
◦ Amir's focus would constantly shift to Baba, and he was a,ways thinking
about what he was doing and thinking. This changed when he entered the final few
and he shifted all his focus into flying his kite.
◦ Amir wins the tournament and earns the respect of those around him.
Hoecer, Hassan hasn't returned after chasing the kite and misses his prayer which
he never does. Amir looks for him only to find that Assef and his "friends" have
Hassan cornered in an alley. Amir sits quietly and watches as they beat up Hassan.
Before getting to this point, the author includes old memories like when they said
that Hassan and Amir fed on the same breast, and when they went to see a fortune
teller. Then it cuts back to the scene in the alley, where Assef has his friends
hold down Hassan and rapes him.
◦ The author includes a flashback of Amir watching them kill a sheep, and
the sheep has acceptance in his eyes, as it cuts back to Hassan getting raped and
not fighting back
 ◦ Amir contemplates running in and helping Hassan, but he decides to run
away and hide. He meets with Hassan after Assef and his friends left. Hassan,
dirty and evidently sad acts like everything is fine and hands Amir the blue kite.
He returns home and forgets what happened when in his father's warm embrace.

Chapter Eight
◦ Amir snaps at Ali when he asks what's wrong with Hassan and questions
if he would tell him if something happened. Amir's jealousy and desire to be the
only one acknowledged by his father continues as grows upset when he tries to
invite Hassan. Amir feels sick in the car and throws up when everyone is
congratulating him for winning the tournament in the van.
◦ The more Amir is praised, the more guilty he feels, and he learns he's
gonna get away with what he did. This leads to him becoming an insomniac.
◦ Hassan tries reconnecting with Amir, but Amir snaps at him and tells
him to stop harassing him. After that, Amir avoids Hassan at all cost since seeing
him makes him nervous. Amir runs the idea of getting new servants by his father,
but his father gets mad and scolds him, while expressing his shame.
◦ Amir goes back to school and distracts himself with schoolwork. He
offers to read Hassan a story, but then asks what he would do if he threw a
pomegranate at him. He then started throwing pomegranates at him, hoping he would
defend himself and punish him for what he's done, but instead he grabs one and
crushes it against his own forehead, asks if he's happy and walks away. This
shames Amir even more.
◦ Baba throws Amir a birthday party. During the preparation, it is
evident that Baba is respected as everyone refuses to take his money for their
services. During their party, Assef and his parents go up to Baba and Amir. Assef
and Baba hit it off because from an outside perspective he's the perfect kid. He
hands Amir a gift which we later find out is a biography of Hitler. Rahim meets
with Amir and tells him he can tell him anything and gives him a gift. Then a
firework show starts and Amir sees Hassan serving Assef and his friends drinks from
a silver platter while Assef is kneading his fist into Hassan's chest. He believes
not seeing these things are better, as when it gets dark from the lack of
fireworks, he's relived.

Chapter Nine
◦ Amir opens his gifts but puts them all in a corner because he sees it
as blood money, except Rahim's. He thinks back to when Rahim told him about the
woman that he loved, and how it was good that his family got rid of her and her
family because she would of suffered. Amir takes this to heart and takes the money
and watch he was gifted and puts it in Hassan's house when him and Ali go out to go
grocery shopping. He accuses Hassan of stealing which causes a meeting. Hassan
instantly confesses even though he didn't do anything. Amir realizes Hassan knows
that Amir left him in that alley ams that he knows everything, but he's protecting
him by taking the blame. Amir can also tell that Ali knows because of the cold
glare he gives Amir. He realizes that Hassan must've begged Ali to not give Amir
up. Amir feels horrible after realizing all this but is received this will all be
over soon. To Amir's surprise, he forgives them but they insist on leaving, which
leads to Baba crying.
◦ The scene in which they leave conveys a somber emotion through the
rainy setting, and the out of character behavior from Baba, pleading Ali to stay
one last time. Amir says that if it was a Hindi movie, he would share the car and
apologize and they would hug in the rain while their tears mix with the rainfall,
however that did not end up happening.

Chapter Ten
◦ This chapter begins five years after the events of the last chapter.
Amir and Baba have fled in a veichle of a smuggler who is driving them to
checkpoint where they will transfer onto another vehicle in Jalalabad that will
take them to Peshawar. A Russian soldier who is working with these smugglers
insists on taking a girl for thirty minutes as a price to pay for letting them
past. Baba stands up for her and says he'd rather be dead than to let that happen.
He shows disappointment in Amir for trying to stop him. Before the soldier shoots
him, another older Russian soldier stops him and apologizes for his actions,
explaining its due to the drugs.
◦ When they get to Jalalabad, they learn that Karim (one of the
smugglers) didn't tell them that the second truck broke down and they waited for
weeks in a house. Eventually, they get a hold of a fuel truck that they use to
drive to Pakistan. We also learn that Kamal ( one of Assef's friends) is there in
the house with his father and that Kamal's mother died to a stray bullet and he was
ironically raped by four Russian soldiers, leaving him as a shell of his former
self.
◦ They get to Pakistan, but we find out that Kamal died to the fumes of
the vehicle. Baba tries to comfort Kamal's father, but he pushes him aside and
charges Karim and takes his gun. To everyone's surprise, he shoots himself instead
of Karim by sticking the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger.
Chapter Eleven
◦ A year and a half after they come to America from Pakistan. Baba has a
hard time adjusting. He gets a job working at a gas station and becomes a day
manager. He has an incident where he gets angry in a store because they asked for
ID when he wanted to write a check even though he's been buying fruit from there
for a long time. Amir says they could go back to Peshawar because it was more like
home, but Baba says he came to America for Amir not for him. Baba is still very
prideful despite working at a gas station as he denies food stamps, which shocks
the worker of 15 years since she's never seen that in all of the time that she's
worked.
◦ Amir graduates, and it's clear that Baba is aging. He shows up and
supports Amir and takes pictures of him. He takes him to an Afghanistan kabob
restaurant and orders lots of food. He then takes him to a bar where he orders
drinks for those around him and has a old man play his favorite music. Before
long, it's like a party like back home since Baba would always throw parties. When
he left everyone was sad, so it's evident he hasn't changed. Baba surprise Amir
with a new car, (a ford) and they share a sentimental moment in the car. The next
day Amir tells Baba that he'll attend college even though he wasn't sure about it
before and that he'll major in English. Baba thinks it's ridiculous and that law
and medicine is a real career.
◦ Amir would drive a lot and would admire his surroundings. He admired
the ocean that he always wanted to see with Hassan. He noticed all the different
things that were different from home. He also recognized America as a place for
him to bury his sins and move on.
◦ Amir and Baba would drive around in old van that Baba bought and head
to garage sales every Saturday to buy used goods and sell them at flea markets.
Lots of other Afghans did this. Baba met with somebody he knew. He praised Baba
and soon a woman (Soraya) came to give him tea. Soraya had caught Amie's attention
as she was beautiful and thought that their name sounded familiar. It sounded
familiar because apparently something happened with Soraya with a man and it didn't
go well. Since then, no suitor has knocked on her door.

Chapter Twelve
◦ Amir thinks back to the longest night of the year which was the first
night of winter. He brings this up because every night felt like this night ever
since he laid his eyes in the generals daughter (Soraya). Amir builds up the
courage to talk to her after the whole summer. When he speaks to her, everyone
turns their eyes to them. Amir knows that she'll take the heat of the rumors
because she's a girl and because of her past. He meets her mother and realizes
that she won't be an obstacle. His father when he learns of their intersection
tells him to remember what he told him about messing with the general's daughter.
◦ Every Sunday that they went to the flea mart, Amir would talk to Soraya
and her mother who liked him whenever the general wasn't there. One day they
talked and she told him the story that led to her wanting to be a teacher. She
used her literacy for good while Amir used his to make fun of Hassan. She even let
off a detail that she talked about Amir with her mother in private which made her
blush. Amir brought her one of his glories, and she was happy about u til her
father came and saw them. He took the story and told Amir that he's a peer and to
pass his respects to his father while throwing out his story.
◦ His father got sick with a cold, and when the sniffling went away, the
coughing didn't. Eventually Amir took him to the doctor when he coughed up bloody
phlegm. After weeks of seeing different doctors and different appointments, we
find out Baba has cancer in his lungs and it's inoperable but can be prolonged
through chemo. Baba, stingy as ever refuses. Eventually he gets worse and worse.
He gets tired throughout the days more often and he calls in sick for work for the
first time ever. There's blood on his pillow and he's shedding weight which seemed
good at first until he kept on losing weight. One day at the flea market, he falls
and starts seizing and foaming at the mouth and is rushed to the hospital, where
Amir stays by his side overnight. Many come to pay their respects while he rests
and the general and his family including Soraya come to visit. Amir leaves the
room trying to contain his emotions. Soraya comes out and comforts him. She
returns quickly as to not worry her father, but before she leaves Amir tells her it
means the world to him that she came.
◦ Baba is discharged 2 days later. Amir asks him to go to the general's
house to ask for his blessing. Baba agrees and goes and the general agrees.
Soraya wishes to speak to Amir and tells her why she's the subject of rumors. When
she lived in Virginia, she ran off with a man who did drugs. This ruined her
relationship with father when she caught her and her mother had a stroke. She says
she was young and stupid and asks if it bothered Amir and he said a little but he
would stir love to marry her. This confession hit Amir deep, as she got this off
her chest but he was too afraid to confess what he did to Hassan.

Chapter Thirteen
◦ The chapter begins with the blessing ceremony where the father gives
the blessing. They have a wedding but with a shortened process because they can
tell the father only has a few months to live. Soraya moves in and helps with
Amir's father. One day, he has them out him in bed and kisses them both. He
declines the medicine and says he feels no pain. He died in his sleep.
◦ Amir learns a lot about his family in law, like hoe the general gets
migraines every month for a week and doesn't leave his room until the pain
subsides. He learns that the general must collects government welfare and is
waiting for things to change in Afghanistan so he could reclaim his position. He
learns that Soraya's mother can sing very well, but the general forbids her to sing
in public. He learns more details about the night in Virginia.
◦ They have a funeral for Baba and lots of people showed up. Amir sits
with Soraya and cry's in her embrace. Her cousin got married and they overhear two
wow,m gossiping how it's good that he didn't marry his cousin (Soraya). In the car,
Soraya broke down and expressed the unfairness of the double standard that she was
a victim of. Males could do whatever they want and not be chastised for it while
women had to be absolutely perfect. She shared more details about that night in
Virginia and how her dad brought a gun with two bullets, one for the man and one
for him if she didn't come with him. She made him cut off all her hair that night.
Amir says a reason why he might not mind is because he knows all about regret.
◦ Amir and Soraya move in an apartment near the general's house. He goes
to college where Soraya enrolled the following year. They do things like married
couples and they visit Amir's father's grave. A small altercation happens when the
general says she's wasting her talents which upsets Soraya because she thinks he
just wants her to be successful to make him look good, and that being a teacher is
better than just collecting welfare.
◦ Amir finishes his first novel and sends it to a dozen agencies. An
agency in New York is interested in the full novel. They respond and say they're
willing to represent him so they could get his book published. It's successful.
They start trying for a child and month after month it doesn't work. They visit
doctors for months to find out what's wrong and they find out it's unexplained
infertility on Soraya's part. This deeply hurts her. They consider adoption due
to a doctor's recommendation, but they're not %100 sure. They use the advance in
his second novel on a down payment on a nice house an hour away from the general's
house.

Chapter Fourteen
◦ Amir review es a call from Rahim, saying to come to Pakistan. He's
sick, and based on his words Amir knows Rahim knows everything as he said "A way to
be good again". The general is growing older and broke his hip. Things are good
between Amir and Soraya, but not super passionate.

Chapter Fifteen
◦ Amir returns to Pakistan where he stayed for months before coming to
America. He meets with Rahim, who looks very sick and malnourished. They talk
about their lives and Rahim reveals he may not live to see the summer end. He
explains how cruel the Taliban was. He reveals that he lived in their old house
and that Hassan lived with them. Then Rahim says he's going to ask something of
him but he's going to tell him about Hassan first.

Chapter Sixteen
◦ Rahim lives in Baba's house alone. He starts getting old, so he goes
to find Hassan. He's still the easily recognizable despite having a few different
characteristics. He asks Hassan and his pregunta wife to come live with him and
they decline. Rahim understands and stays the night. Hassan asks lots of
questions about Amir and when he finds out Baba passed away, he cries through the
night. The next day, the take Rahim up on his offer. They live in the mud house
they lived in before to show respect and they clean and cook every day. Ome day, a
woman with gray hair no teeth and knife wounds shows up to their front door and
passes out. It is revealed that she is Hassan's mother, and she came to see if
Hassan was as beautiful as she had heard. Hassan runs and doesn't come back until
the morning. Hassan's mother shows regret for leaving him as a child and not
holding him. Hassan says she's home and can live with them. The first child
passed away bedore Hassna's mother showed up, but they got pregnant again and when
the baby was born, Hassan's mother (Sanaubar) couldn't put him down and loved the
baby like she didn't love Hassan. Hassan would take the child out a lot to the zoo
or fly kites, and the baby had the same nature as Hassan but loved books like Amir.
It is revealed earlier in the Carter that Hassan learned how to read and write
which is why when his child was born he taught it how to read and write. The
chapter ends by saying that the Hazari's were massacred.

Chapter Seventeen
◦ In this chapter, we learn about how raising Hassan's child was and how
happy they were. Rahim gives Amir a letter that Hassan wrote to him alongside a
Polaroid of him and his son. The letter was about how he told his family a lot
about him and that he prays that he's safe and that he can come back and see him.
He tells him about how sick Rahim is, how much his son adores Rahim and the dangers
of Kabul. He mentions how Kabul isn't the place it used to be but he hopes and
prays it can return to its former state. He says how he wished he could meet his
son. After reading the letter, Rahim tells him that when he left, he received a
phone call that the Taliban accused Hassan of lying about living there with Rahim,
because his could a Hazara live in a house like that. They told him they would
kick him and his family out and stay there until Rahim came back. Hassan
protested, which resulted in him being ordered to kneel in the street and get shot.
His wife started screaming and attacking his killers which resulted in a similar
fate. Amir could simply repeat the word "no" when hearing the tale of Hassan's
demise.
◦ Rahim goes on to ask Amir a favor. He wants to go to Kabul and get
Hassan's son and bring him to Pakistan to an American couple that takes care of
Afghanistan kids. Amir refuses and says if it's a matter of money he'll pay, but
doesn't want to go back because he says it's too dangerous and he doesn't want to
go back to Kabul. This anger Rahim who asks if he's become a man who doesn't stand
up for himself like his father said many years ago. Amir says his father may have
been right, but Rahim doesn't believe that. He asks him if he can honor a dying
man's wish and tells him one last secret. Ali could have children with his
previous wife wh had three children with her next husband. He had a child with
Sanaubar. Rahim reveals Ali was sterile which leads to Amir asking who Hassan's
father is since it couldn't have been Ali. Rahim says "I think you know who" which
leads the readers to believe that it was Baba, making Hassan and Amir brothers.
This angers Amir, and he feels like he's been lied to his whole life and he
expresses that there's nothing he could do to make it better before storming out of
the apartment.

Chapter Eighteen
◦ In this chapter, Amir goes to a place to drink tea and reflect. He
realized Rahim had called him to atone for his own sins and for Baba's sins. He
was furious that Baba lied and realized that Baba was a thief that stole their
rights to the truth and Ali's dignity. He realized they had both betrayed people
who would have given their lives for them. He made the realization that the signs
had always been there (Baba being sad that Ali Asha's taken Hassan, and him wishing
Hassan was there to see Amir graduate and him never missing Hassan's birthday.).
Then Amir started thinking maybe things would have turned out differently if he
never chased them out of the house. He makes up his mind and decides to go through
with saving Hassan's son, so he returns to Rahim's apartment to tell him the news.

Chapter Nineteen
◦ The chapter begins with Amir in a car driven by a man named Farid.
Based on their interactions it's obvious he doesn't like Amir likely because he's a
rich Afghanistan man who left his country to go to America. He takes him to his
brother's house to stay the night. They talk to him and ask why he came back.
Farid says he's like everyone else and that he plans to sell his land tho his
family owned to take the money back to America. This angers his brother and he
apologizes for his rudeness. Amir tells them the truth, including the fact that
it's his illegitimate brother's son. This makes Farid go quiet.
◦ The truth of the situation has triggered a change in Farid, and he says
he'll help Amir find Hassan's son. Amir had a nightmare where a blindfolded guy
died in a similar manner to Hassan, and the one who pulled the trigger was Amir
himself. They feed Amir and Farid, and three little kids who live in the house
stare at Amir's wrist so he gives them his smart watch after he finishes eating.
He over hears that they have no food which makes Amir reas lie that the skinny boys
were looking at his food, not his watch. When Amir leaves he reveals that he did
what he did 26 years ago; he planted money under a mattress. This parallel shows
character development in Amir, as he did it with bad intentions at first but did it
out of consideration now.

Chapter Twenty
◦ Farid is driving them into Kabul, and it's very obvious that things are
different. There's destroyed buildings and beggars everywhere. One beggar happens
to know Amir's mom, and tells Amir more about his mom than Baba ever told him.
Amir said he would find him again to ask more, but he never ended up seeing the man
again.
◦ Amir and Farid get to the orphanage. At first, they ask a man who says
he's never seen that big, but they know he's lying and please with him, telling him
their intentions with Hassan's son. He lets them in and tells them how poor the
orphanage is. He then tells him a man from the Taliban comes every month with
money and takes a kid, and he took Hassan's son last month. This angers Farid, a
as he's selling children and he tries to kill him ny strangling him. Amir gets him
to stop by telling him the kids are watching. The man justifies himself by saying
if he refuses he'll just take ten kids and he uses the money to feed the kids since
he's given everything he has to the orphanage despite having family in Pakistan.
The man tells them that they'll see the man wearing sunglasses at Ghazi Stadium the
following day.

Chapter Twenty One

◦ Farid and Amir are driving around looking for Baba's house. We seem
more signs of war and poverty in the way. When they arrive, Amir goes around and
sees how everything has changed, as if it was a different place and the mansion his
father built up up is now in ruins. They go to a hotel that was very over priced
for how bad it was, but Amir understood it as a matter of providing for family.
They stay up and tell each other jokes and tell each other about themselves.
Eventually they fall asleep. The next day they go to the stadium and watch the
game and observe how evil the Taliban are as they hit anybody who cheers to loud.
At half time, they bring in two people, a woman and a blindfolded man. They put
them in a hole and after preaching about Islam, the man with the sunglasses who
they are supposed to meet hurls rocks at the man after making a grand entrance.
After the man is dead, they fill up the holes and finish the game. Farid tells
somebody that he has business with the man with shades, and the message gets
carried all the way to him. The meeting is set for three o clock that afternoon.

Chapter Twenty Two

◦ Farid takes Amir to the meeting place, and tells Amir that this his his
business which makes it evident that Farid is afraid of going inside. Despite not
wanting to be alone, Amir understands and he knows he's done much more for him than
he's paid him for. He goes inside and after getting frisked is seated. He
eventually meets with the man who has Hassan's son. They talk about what happened
at the stadium and he presses Amir about why he wants Hassan's son. Based on his
interaction with Hassan's son after he summons him, it's evident that he's doing
inappropriate things to him. He lets Amir have Hassan's son, but when he walks to
the door with him, he says not for free. He says that he has business to settle
with him and reveals he knows Amir. He takes of his glasses and Amir makes the
realization the man with shades is Assef. Assef tells him about his epiphany when
he was younger and how it sent him on a "mission". Assef tells his guards to leave
the room and is Amir is the one who walks out alive, to let him go. They start
fighting, but Amir has feint memory of most of the fight except the end. Assef
badly injures Amir, breaking his ribs, jaw, splitting his lip and knocking out his
teeth. Hassan's son is crying the whole time. He threatens to shoot Assef with a
brass ball he got from the table and his slingshot. Things angers Assef and after
Hassan's son doesn't put it down,Che lunges at him. Hassan's son shoots him in his
eye, sending Assef to the floor screaming in pain. Hassan's son grabs Amir's hand
and they run to Farid's car where he helps Amir and repeats the word bismallah.
The guards are surprised and run to Assef who still has the brass ball stuck in his
eye. Amir passes out.

Chapter Twenty Three

◦ Amir is in a hospital bed, fading in and out of consciousness. At
first he doesn't recognize the people around him, but he eventually remembers. His
injuries are very serious and he is lucky to have lived. His jaw is wired shut so
he can't talk at first. Over time, Hassan's son and Farid visit. They deliver a
latte to Amir from Rahim and a key, saying that he's giving him all his money for
his expenses to him, and apologizing for all the lies. He also tells Amir that his
dad was a troubled soul and took out the fact that he couldn't openly love Hassan
like him out on Amir. Amir realizes that's probably why their relationship
improved in America, because he saw Hassan in Amir and not a spoiled kid. He also
says he knows everything, but doing good from guilt is true redemption. He has
little time and wishes to spend it alone. When Farid and Hassan's son visit again,
he asks Farid to find the American couple, only to find out they never existed.
They also realize it might be dangerous to stay around because the Taliban has
friends, so they all go to Islamabad.

Chapter Twenty Four

◦ Farid drives them to a hotel in Islamabad that was much better then the
previous one. Islamabad is described to be cleaner and nicer than Peshawar, and is
what Kabul could have became. Bedore Farid leaves because he misses his children,
Amir gives him an envelope with $2,000. After Farid drove off, that's the last
time Amir ever saw him. Amir goes back to the room and goes to bed. He wakes up
to find that Hassan's son is missing. He goes down to the lobby to ask workers if
they've seen him. Amir suddenly remembers he showed interest in a mosque they saw
on the way to the hotel, so Amir asks him to drive him there. When he gets there,
he sits with him and talks to him. They talk about if they remember what their
parents look like, so Amir gives him a Polaroid of Hassan. Hassan's son thinks he
might go to hell because he's dirty and full of sin. Amir assured him he's not and
his father would be proud. Amir asks him if he wantAmir tries touching him but he
flinches. Amir doubles down and tries again, trying to get him to accept him.
Reluctant, it works and he cries into Amir's shirt.
◦ P